Editor 's note : On CNN 's `` State of the Union , '' host and Chief National Correspondent John King goes outside the Beltway to report on the issues affecting communities across the country .

Herbert Hale lives on a check of a little less than $ 17 a week and whatever he can pick up from odd jobs .

CHERRY CREEK , South Dakota -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The tiny one-room house rests on a hill ; no electricity and no running water . A creaky metal cot and a rusting wood-burning stove is all the comfort Herbert Hale says he needs .

`` All it is is logs , glue -- dirt and water put together -- then cement and the chicken string , '' Hale says of his home . `` Long as the windows do n't break , it 's nice and warm in here . ''

The roof leaks a bit , and the floorboards are rotted in one corner , but Hale is n't one to complain .

`` It 's home , '' he says , almost under his breath , as he invites a visitor to have a look .

Firewood is stacked in one corner inside , and more outside as Hale uses the summer months to stockpile for prairie winters , where 20 below zero is not all that uncommon .

He also pulls bunches of long weeds in the prairie grass , to dry for use as a firestarter .

`` I have to be careful , '' Hale says matter-of-factly as he pulls a few fistfuls . `` Sometimes there are some snakes . Rattlesnakes . Nothing to mess around with . ''

He is 54 years old , a member of the Lakota tribe and part of two stunning statistics , even as communities across America deal with the pain and challenges of recession :

Hale worked 16 years as a firefighter . But he began having some back problems in the early 1980s and then , `` cancer caught up with me . I have a brain tumor . ''

He says he gets a check for just shy of $ 17 every week from a tribal welfare fund , and tries to find odd jobs to pay for his food and to help out a diabetic sister .

But there 's a catch : Tiny Cherry Creek has no such jobs . There are one or two one-room homes like Hale 's , but it is mostly a collection of a couple dozen simple modular homes provided by a federal and tribal housing program . It does n't even have a gas station or general store .

So Hale heads out most days toward Eagle Butte -- 17 miles up one road and then 21 miles more up the next . A few more twists and , `` It 's about 42 to 43 miles , someplace around there . ''

Herbert Hale ca n't afford a car .

`` Well , I take off , go to my sister 's , then get some water and take off . Somebody along the way will pick me up . ''

Often , that somebody is Bryce In The Woods , a member of the tribal council whose district includes Cherry Creek .

`` It is bad , '' he says of the area 's economic plight , walking a visitor through the gravel streets where many residents , idle because of the lack of jobs , are sitting out front or shout out a greeting from inside their small homes .

To spend a day crossing the reservation is to see a place stunningly beautiful and seemingly forgotten all at once , small , poor communities tucked into the hollows of western South Dakota 's Cheyenne River Reservation . The poverty is all the more striking because of the richness of the setting : green and golden rolling hills , roaming horses and cattle , and tall corn and golden sunflowers sprouting from the fertile soil .

`` Ziebach County is the No. 1 county statistically with child poverty , '' he said . `` Now that alone is generational , with the trauma of poverty and the broken family . ''

Breaking that cycle is Bryce In The Woods ' obsession . He highlights a bright spot : A building in the community converted to a makeshift classroom and library where residents can get tutoring help and then take the GED -- the high school equivalency exam .

`` It is so difficult , '' he says of the challenge facing younger reservation residents . `` Some of our young people join the services , the armed services , some of them go to college or apply to college , '' Bryce In The Woods told us . `` The majority , if they are staying here , end up moving to Rapid City or some of the bigger cities to try to find employment . ''

In Eagle Butte , the largest community on the reservation , a bustling construction site is a new source of pride .

A medical center is under construction , thanks to funding from the Obama administration 's stimulus plan , and Bryce In The Woods says about 65 construction-related jobs so far have gone to tribal members .

`` At this point I am very appreciative of what we have received , '' Joseph Brings Plenty , the elected tribal chairman , says when we ask if the stimulus funding is enough . `` But as far as expectation , I can say no . There would be a lot more need to be fulfilled by the U.S. government for our tribe before I can say yes . ''

Outside , Brings Plenty 's office is a `` First Americans for Obama '' sign -- a reminder the tribe was an early backer of Barack Obama . Brings Plenty says he hopes the president remembers .

`` I can sympathize , empathize , with the demands , with the pressures that are on his shoulders , on his plate and put in front of him , '' Brings Plenty said during a break from a Tribal Council meeting .

The biggest help Obama and Congress could give , the chairman and others told us , is greater water rights . The tribe has money for more housing , but ca n't build because the water pressure is too low and its treatment systems too outdated to handle increased demand .

`` I feel that we are forgotten because we do n't have that voice out there , '' Chairman Brings Plenty said . `` It 's demoralizing in a way for some of our members that go out and receive an education and come back and are unable to get a job here . ''

To be clear , Chairman Brings Plenty and Bryce In the Woods say not all of the tribe 's problems rest with the federal government .

Both mentioned obstacles and disagreements born of factional tribal politics and rivalries , which were in full evidence during just a few minutes of the Tribal Council 's debate .

In The Woods is also a strong advocate for land reforms he says would get the tribe a better deal for grazing rights on its property .

Still , they would welcome more economic development help , from the state and from Washington , but say their voices do n't always get heard , even in the best of times .

`` When it comes down to a vote , a lot of the urban representatives , I do n't think they really know the plight on the reservation , '' Bryce In the Woods said . `` I think there is a stereotype out there that all tribes have casinos and that 's not true . ''

Herbert Hale shrugs when asked if Washington has a responsibility to help his struggling community .

`` I ca n't really say , '' he said quietly . `` I 'm not into politics to tell you the truth . I was when I was younger , back in the '80s . ''

Now , he lives the simplest of lives .

A few hours of work if he is lucky , and perhaps an hour or two collecting wood , even in the scorching August sun . The temperature neared 100 degrees on the day of our visit , yet Hale 's wood stove was warm to the touch . Prairie mornings can still be chilly .

More important , memories of winter 's past remind Hale of the value of his growing stockpile .

`` Sometimes it 's a long walk , '' he says . `` Especially in February . Twenty below and I have to walk . Often no cars ... A few times I felt like falling asleep on the road . I told myself , ` Fall asleep , you 're froze and you 're gone . ' I pushed myself to keep walking . ''

Once home , he has a battery-powered radio and uses a small kerosene lamp to pass time at night reading . He 's extra careful because he recently broke its glass chimney , so the flame burns without protection from the winds that can pick up suddenly .

Herbert 's worries are more immediate than whether the president or any other politician understands his plight . `` They never stopped up here , '' he says . `` If they did , I was n't home . ''

On the odd jobs in town , $ 1 here and $ 5 there adds up -- not too much , but his goals are modest .

`` You know , take the trash out . I sweep the front . A few dollars a day would n't hurt . That 's as good as you need . That 's all I care about . One day at a time . ''

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In nation 's poorest county , about 56 percent of residents live below poverty line

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Herbert Hale , who is a member of the Lakota tribe , is unemployed

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Hale gets about $ 17 a week from a tribal welfare fund ; tries to find odd jobs

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Lawmakers do n't get `` the plight on the reservation , '' tribal council member says